A One-Shot Here, A One-Shot There
by Huntress of Sacred Dreams
Summary: 100 Prompts. 100 Stories of the past, present and future. Drama, Supernatural, Horror, Romance, Adventure, Tradgedy. Welcome to my book of One-Shots.


**AN: Yeah, I decided to take Prin Pardus's 100 One-shot challenge. And no, I do not care if it is late. Enjoy.**

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"Run, Riverblossom!" a cat screeched as it tore into the red fur of a fox. The fox snapped at the cat's neck, missing by a hairs breadth.

"No!" Riverblossom cried as she dove under the belly of a second fox, dragging her claws down its stomach. She shuddered when a splash of blood hit the back of her neck, cringing as the sticky, red liquid seeped into her light blue fur. "I will not leave you to die alone, Gorselight!"

Gorselight ducked under the fox's wild swipe and leapt onto its shoulders to sink his claws into the back of its neck. The fox bucked and turned in a wild panic to get the cat that was causing it so much pain off its back. It succeeded and Gorselight was thrown from the fox's back, landing with a painful thump a few feet away.

Riverblossom's shriek of pain was loud enough to snap Gorselight out of his dazed state of mind. His eyes snapped open to see Riverblossom's leg clamped in the mouth of one of the fox's whilst the other snapped at her flank. The sight of his mate being tormented by two vile creatures sent Gorselight into a rage. He scrambled to his paws and tore across the small, grassy clearing. His claws tore into the neck of the fox that was holding Riverblossom's leg, the sudden pain enough to force the fox to let go.

The fox turned on Gorselight with a howl of fury, snapping at the wiry brown tom with yellow teeth. Gorselight darted in, slicing his claws across the fox's muzzle, feeling blood from the wound spray his pelt.

A cry of pain from Riverblossom was enough to distract Gorselight from his battle. The fox saw its chance and with a growl, clamped its jaws around the tom's neck. Gorselight felt his paws leave the ground as the fox lifted him up and began shaking him like a piece of prey. He could feel the canines of the fox digging into his windpipe and Gorselight closed his eyes, waiting for the spark of pain that would begin the end of his life.

But the spark never came. The fox stopped shaking him and tossed the limp warrior to one side, its hungry yellow eyes focused on the plumped of the two cats, the blue she-cat that carried the kits of Gorselight. He could only watch weakly from the place he had been thrown as Riverblossom was attacked by both foxes. She was pinned down by one while the other sunk his fangs into her neck and pierced her windpipe.

Riverblossom's agonized screams of pain echoed in Gorselight's head as he slipped into unconsciousness.

**/000\**

Shiverpaw lay outside the apprentices den, her blue head resting on her paws. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the camp exit, waiting to see her mother and father enter the camp. She wanted to tell them about the crow she and Lightpaw had caught today.

But as the sun began to sink below the trees, Shiverpaw's excitement turned to worry. Her parents were always back before the sun set.

Lightpaw came and sat by Shiverpaw, a plump vole hanging from her mouth. "Do you want to share?" the fawn apprentice offered after she put the vole on the ground.

Shiverpaw nodded and took a bite of the vole. "Thank you," she mewed quietly, her eyes shooting back to the camp entrance.

"Are you parents not back yet?" Lightpaw asked.

"No," Shiverpaw frowned. "Which is odd because they're usually always back before sunset."

Lightpaw shrugged and nibbled at the vole. "Maybe they were having so much fun that they didn't notice the time passing."

"Maybe," Shiverpaw sighed, pushing the vole away. "I'm not hungry."

Lightpaw looked at Shiverpaw with sympathetic green eyes. "They'll be back. They always are." A smirk passed over the fawn apprentice's face as a dark shape slid out of the elders den. "Look who just came out of the elders den."

Shiverpaw followed Lightpaw's gaze, sighing quietly when she recognised who it was. "I knew it!" Lightpaw crowed. "I knew you had a crush on Darkpaw!"

"Ssh!" Shiverpaw squeaked, stuffing her tail in Lightpaw's mouth. "He'll hear you!"

"Darkpaw? Hear me? He's deafer than a bat at times," Lightpaw scoffed.

Shiverpaw glared at her mutinously for a few seconds before she felt her gaze sliding back to where Darkpaw now sat alone, a finch abandoned by his paws. She longed to go over and sit with him but she worried that it would be awkward. Another sigh escaped her jaws and she dropped her head onto her paws.

As more time passed, Shiverpaw found it hard not to worry about where her parents were. Even with Lightpaw trying to take her mind off them or Darkpaw saying hello when he walked past, didn't stop her from worrying. It was beginning to make the apprentice tired but she didn't want to go to sleep without seeing her parents.

"Are you still out here waiting for them?" a quiet voice whispered.

Shiverpaw turned her head to stare into the dark blue eyes of Darkpaw. "Y-yes," she stammered. "I won't be able to sleep without knowing if they are safe or not."

Darkpaw slid out from the shadows, his black pelt blending in with them perfectly. "You don't want to lose them like you lost your brothers, do you?"

Surprise flitted across Shiverpaw's gaze before it was replaced by sadness at the thought of her brothers. "No. I can't lose them, Darkpaw. They're all I have left."

A small sympathetic smile curled at the edges of Darkpaw's muzzle as he laid his tail across Shiverpaw's shoulders. The feeling of his tail across her shoulders turned Shiverpaw's insides to mush and she couldn't help but wish that he felt the same way about her. "I know what it's like to lose family," he whispered sadly.

"You lost family?" Shiverpaw repeated. "How?" But Darkpaw gave no answer and withdraw his tail from her shoulders. Shiverpaw mentally clawed herself. _You were having a beautiful moment with him and then you had to go ahead and ask that!_ _Mouse-brain!_

The two apprentices fell silent, watching the moon as it moved slowly across the clear sky. Shiverpaw began to fear for the lives of her parents. And then the entrance to camp rustled and the smell of blood billowed into the camp. Darkpaw leapt to his paws, hackles raised. "Whose there!?" he spat.

A wiry brown tom pulled himself into camp, blood staining his pelt crimson. "Father!" Shiverpaw cried out, dashing over to him. She gasped when she saw how much blood stained his pelt. "Get Leafstorm, Darkpaw!"

Darkpaw took one last look at the bloody sight before him and then dashed away to find the medicine cat.

"Where's Mother!?" Shiverpaw asked franticly.

Gorselight blinked his eyes open, his breath rattling in his chest. "Foxes. Ambush. R-Riverblossom…didn't make it." And then he fainted.

Shiverpaw stared down at her father with wide eyes before an anguished wail ripped from her throat. "No! No! Please no!" she sobbed, burying her face in her father's bloody fur. She refused to move from her father's body until Leafstorm nudged her away.

"My dear, I cannot begin to heal your Father until you move," she whispered. "Pray to StarClan, Shiverpaw, pray that he survives."

"He will survive, won't he?" Shiverpaw rasped, looking up at Leafstorm with tearful eyes.

Leafstorm looked away. "I do not know."

Darkpaw blinked at Leafstorm before he laid his tail across Shiverpaw's shoulders and led her away. Once they were in the shelter of the apprentices den, he helped her into her nest and curled around her. "Try and sleep," he whispered. "Morning will come and things will be brighter."

She nodded slightly as she was lulled into a peaceful sleep by the steady rhythm of Darkpaw's beating heart by her ear.

**-000-**

Shiverlight jerked awake with a quiet cry. Her fur was matted with sweat and her eyes were brimming with tears as she began to recall her nightmare. Not that it was even a nightmare, more like horrible memories come back to haunt her during the night. She sighed sadly and turned her head to look at Darkstorm's nest. Alarm pierced her muscles when she saw that his nest was empty, before it turned to relief when she looked outside the den.

Darkstorm sat out in the middle of the camp, head raised to the clear sky above him. Shiverlight could hear no words and she suspected that the quiet tom was all by himself. She rose to her paws silently and slipped out of the den, careful not to catch her fur on the brambles.

"The stars look pretty tonight," Shiverlight said quietly as she sat down beside Darkstorm. She too raised her head to look at the dark sky. A crescent moon dangled in the sky, framed by the hundreds of stars that glittered beside it.

Shiverlight couldn't help but wonder if her parents were up there watching her. _Are my brothers with you? _she asked the stars. But they gave no answer and simply remained twinkling in the sky like fireflies.

"Indeed they do," Darkstorm responded. He curled his tail around Shiverlight and rested his head on top of hers. Shiverlight purred and nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his warm scent. "Do the stars remind you of those you have lost?" he asked suddenly.

Shiverlight returned her gaze to the floor of the camp to hide the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "Of course. I know my parents went to StarClan. And if my brothers are dead then they will be up there too." She blinked slowly as she remembered that Darkstorm had lost his family too and had come to the Clan as a loner with no one to care for. He was just as lonely as she was. But together they weren't alone. They would always have each other.

"Your faith in StarClan wasn't injured when they took your parents away from you?" Darkstorm questioned.

Shiverlight shook her head. "StarClan never wants to tear cats away from their families. But when a cat's time is up, StarClan _must _take them away, even if they feel like it is the wrong thing."

"Thank you," Darkstorm murmured into her ear. "Thank you for everything."

"There is no need to thank me," Shiverlight purred. "I love you and I will always be here for you. No matter what."

Darkstorm's muzzle curled into a smile as he licked Shiverlight's ear. "And I love you too."

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**AN: Wildy, if your read this then it should explain Shiverlight's past more. Shiverlight and Darkstorm are roleplay characters. Darkstorm belongs to Wildy. **


End file.
